Spare Ribs with red Bell Pepper and Polenta

After a Summer spent travelling around and where my most elaborate culinary exploit has been mozzarella and tomatoes salad now that the weather in no longer so good I am getting into a cooking madness.

This is the spare ribs with red bell pepper and polenta. This dish looks fatter than what I think it is,as I have used no oil and the only fat is the one coming from the meat.

It also looks much more elaborate than what it is.

Preheat the pan and then roast the ribs on all sites, add the spices you like ( I used a mix of dried bay leaves, rosemary, thymian, oregano prepared by my mother), them add some white wine and a spoon of vinegar, and some tomato paste. Let it cook for about 20 minutes and then add the chopped bell peppers, let it cook for another 20 or 30 minutes. If necessary add some more white wine and adjust in salt and pepper. I also add some chili pepper, but just a bit.

Buon Appetito!

Hot Air Baloon festival in Paestum

Two weeks ago we went to a hot air baloon festival in Paestum that was held in a field right next to the ancient greek temples.

Preparing Tiramisu

Finally today I found the time to prepare on of my fiancee favourite treats... TIRAMISU!
The receipt is the traditional one, but I replaced half of the very fat Mascarpone Cheese with Ricotta and I have used natural fruit sugar instead of white sugar... this way I will half guilty :-)

 and with the leftover I prepared a small bowl of Limoncelllo Tiramisù.

Mermaid Tears - Tree of Life

This piece of sea glass I found in a small beach by the Amafi Coast was a found from this summer. It is quite unique as it has a pattern that reminds me of the tree of life and is quite thick. It was a pleasure to cast it in a net of beads.  Not to take anything away from the uniqueness of the sea glass I have kept the decoration to the minimum, the only "concession" are two light grey crystal .. just to give is a little spark.
What a great piece full of mystery.

More in my ETSY shop

Vote your favourite! The Flavors of Autumn challenge

Vote your favourite! 

The Flavors of Autumn challenge

Cast your vote by following this link! 

But I hope you like my "annurka apples" :-)  

EtsyItaliaTeam - WE FIND FOR YOU

EtsyItaliaTeam - WE FIND FOR YOU
Originally uploaded by LaPerLaA1

I am at home with a sore teeth and I need something happy and a splash of colour to cheer up!

Thank you fellow ETSY ITALIA TEAM for this great items

1. Hand crocheted FOLIAGE bear by GufoLab
2. PUM-PUM PUMPKINS by PUNTIDIVISTA
3. ORTENSIA Iphone gadget case by LUNICA
4. Night Blue Booties with Yellow Cuffs by BABYCARE

Beaded Beads

I had a lot of fun this past week creating beaded beads for my ETSY shop, all handmade by my. I also handforged and handhammered myself the earwire in oxidised copper. Too bad I had only a few wooden beads to cover and now I have to wait for new beads to arrive.

A Mermaid Tear in Pink - Recycling Sea Pottery

What a better way to have a little piece of Italy and the sea always with you? The cabochon of this mermaid tear is a piece of sea pottery I found on the  Amalfi coast. The piece is somehow "simple" as it is plain white on one side and terracotta on the other, however it is large and the white enamel is still very thick despite the many years this piece must have been rolling in the sea.
I wanted some contrast to the "simplicity" of this piece, so I used pink tones beads, cultivated pearls in pink, some clear drops and some light pink swarowsky here and there.

The result is this romantic and eye catching pendant. 

A different way to salvage to say "I love Italy"... and a different way to give a new life to what will otherwise go unnoticed.

Find out more in my ETSY shop

EtsyItaliaTeam - WE FIND FOR YOU

EtsyItaliaTeam - WE FIND FOR YOU
Originally uploaded by LaPerLa

1. Ireneagh, 
2. nanofactory, 
3. TrePigmenti, 
4. marlysarts


More lovely finds on EtsyItaliaTeam's blog!

An Italian Lunch

Mozzarella di Bufala, ripe Pachino Tomatoes, dried basilico, home made olive oil, salt and pepper: this is all you need for this fresh and wonderful Italian favourite, and also one of my favourite for its simplicity and wonderful taste.

The main dish was  "sautè" with various clams. Also this dish is extremely easy to prepare, the "longest" time to prepare it is the time you need to have the clams under running sweet water so that they will "spit out" all the sand inside. Then roast a bit of fresh garlic in a pan with good quality olive oil and if you like a couple of pachino tomatoes, throw in the shells, cover the pan and wait until all the shells are open. No salt is needed as the shell will release their salted sea juice.Add some fresh parsley, sprinkle with freshly grounded pepper, if you like some lemon juice but not too much or you will loose the smell and taste of the sea (if  you have use amalfi lemons as the juice is sweeter than regular lemon). Of course have some good rustic bread and forget bon-ton because you will not be able to resist to do what in Italy is called "scarpetta" or dip your bread like a sponge into this sauce.

an october day at the Beach

an october day at the amalfi coast.... it was still very warm this past saturday, a perfect day for a stroll at the Amalfi coast, The colours were vibrant and there was so much energy around.

I love the beach when the sun chairs are gone. What a day for a horse stroll on the beach... I wish I was doing it!

The horse are gone, what a marvellous view of this little beach.

... and a bride walking on the beach on her most memorable day!

EtsyItaliaTeam - WE FIND FOR YOU

October is the month of grape harvestign in northen italy. This collection is inspired by this in shapes and colour.
Would you like more? Visit the ETSY ITALIA TEAM for more.

Originally uploaded by LaPerLaA1

1. Make me a Baba' surprise - Mystery Exotic Blend lace Handspun Art Yarn - 1 oz. by Eliade, 2. PEONY - scarflette lariat by Ixela, 3. Glass Pendant Amethyst and Green on Snake Chain - Free Shipping - JUICY GRAPES by fiorejewellery, 4. Pink Baby Booties by Knittingcate

Mermaid's Tear Pendant - Shark Teeth for the modern pirate

My work desk is usually full of projects I have started, some I do not like and are there ready to be "redone", and a lot of small items I could not yet find the right inspiration. Among them there is always several pieces of sea glass and sea pottery. This one piece I liked do much but I felt I had to find a particular way to "capture"it. Last night I looked at it one more time and it strongly reminded me of shark teeth, so I decided to try to "imitate" the way shark teeth are usually casted.

I love how it has turned out. I think it really looks like shark teeth for a modern sexy and romantic pirate's outfit.

LACE TATTED EARRINGS

Lace tatted earrings made recently for my ETSY shop.

LACE TATTED EARRINGS
Originally uploaded by LaPerLaA1

LACE TATTED EARRINGS - CITY GOTHIC BLACK

LACE TATTED EARRINGS - CITY GOTHIC BLACK and 

DARK RENAISSANCE VENICIAN INSPIRED RING

Annurca Crochet Apple

I crocheted this red apples myself by using high quality italian yarn and with a pattern that I created myself inspired by the ANNURCA apple that is a local small apples typical from the Sorrento area and that has been rediscoved again lately. Intesting is that this is an ancient variety of apple and can even be recognised in some Pompeiian frescoes at the Casa dei Cervi in Herculaneum.